Month: March 2016

For our next review we have took a trip back to the mainland, to the very heart of Scotland. Despite the size of this distillery it is a fairly well-known single malt, and loved by those who enjoy sherry cask maturation. It is of course the Edradour, and today we will be reviewing the 10yo.

Edradour distillery lies in the hills above the Town of Pitlochry, and has been perched there since 1825. In that time they have had no fewer than 30 releases! Not bad for a distillery with a production capacity of around 90,000 litres per year! Owned by the company Signatory since 2002, it was said to be the ‘smallest distillery in Scotland’, though with the huge increase in the number of distilleries being built that title now belongs to Abhainn Dearg (try saying that when you’re drunk… or sober for that matter!). The huge majority of their spirit is bottled as single malt, either as the Edradour or the Ballechin (a peated version). Edradour is known for its sherried-highland style, so without further ado, let the sherry fest begin!

Nose

Sweet sherry satisfaction, all the characteristics of Oloroso cask maturation, it’s like reading a sherry manual – sherry, raisins, tannic sweetness, spice and nuts, it’s just fantastic. With time it develops into a much sweeter dram with more vanilla and toffee, and bags of crushed almonds chucked in on top.

Palate

For being bottled at the minimum 40% ABV it is quite a strong, spirity feeling whisky, it also has a very thick, heavy and dry mouthfeel too it, just adding 3 or 4 drops of water really opens this whisky up. On the palate there’s loads of spice, cinnamon, pepper and sweet toasted oak. This gradually fades away leaving sticky sweet golden syrup, raisins and fresh brewed tea.

Finish

The finish is medium in length, fairly drying also with that toasted oak again, malted barley and sugared almonds. With a higher ABV and without being chill-filtered we agree that the finish on this would be amazing!

Well, there we have it, the Edradour 10yo, a very decent drop of whisky. Everyone loves a sherried whisky now and again and this one has had some excellent maturation which shows in the product. It may be slightly over priced; usually coming in at around £40, but it is still a great malt. If you ever see this on offer definitely buy a bottle to try it, or 6, you won’t be disappointed!

So, here we go, whisky review number one! It took us a long while to decide upon which whisky we wanted to ‘lose our virginity’ to. There are so many great candidates but in the end we went for what is possibly one of the best all-rounders. The Highland Park 12yo.

Highland Park is Scotlands most northernly distillery, on the isle of Orkney, and was founded way back in 1798 making it one of the oldest operational distilleries. Owned by Edrington this is probably one of the best known and most visible single malts within the industry, and after tasting it, its quite clear why. This is one of the few distilleries that still malt their own barley on sight, or a percentage of it, on a traditional malting floor. They also peat their barley during the kilning, using peat cut from Orkney, giving it a distinctive woody/heather-peat smoke aroma. So without further a due, lets get into it!

Nose

Wow, straight away we were met with that gorgeously aromatic and light Orcadian peat smoke. Its so delicate and more like a wood smoke than the heavier, richer peat that you get with Islay malts. There is a lovely sweetness to it aswell, heather honey, vanilla, toffee and a soft pepperyness.

Palate

On the palate there is a huge cereal whack, heaps of malted barley gradually fading into a spicy-sweet woodyness, and the peat that was fairly soft on the nose is much more prominent here. There is also a fruityness trying to battle for some attention, definitely raisins coming from the sherry butts, but also a twist of bitter lemon adding a lovely citric tang.

Finish

For a fairly young whisky, and at only 40% ABV, we were surprised at just how good the finish is. Medium in length, sweet, malty, honeyed and with a wisp of that fantastic smoke running through it, very satisfying dram.

All in all a fantastic whisky, there arent really too many draw backs at all, its such a great all-round dram. If you’re not a whisky drinker then it’s a good one to start with, similarly, if you are then it’s a tough one not to like. A slightly higher ABV would have been nice, and ofcourse, if it was Un-chillfiltered! But that said its an excellent whisky and for the price you pay for it, usually around £25-£30, it is great value for money!